'SPY' Eclipses $250B

Senior ETF Analyst

Oct 20, 2017

Reviewed by: Sumit Roy

Edited by: Sumit Roy

Growing euphoria in the stock market pushed the S&P 500 to multiple record highs this week. Likewise, inflows into U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds continued to reach heights never before seen.

According to the latest FactSet data, $15.2 billion entered ETFs during the week ending Thursday, Oct. 19. The bulk of that―$9.5 billion―went into U.S. equity ETFs, including $4.1 billion into one fund alone: the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY).

SPY easily took the top spot on this week's top inflows list. Its latest inflows, along with the market's ascent, pushed SPY's total assets under management to $250 billion. That's the highest asset total ever for the world's largest ETF.

But even as assets for the fund reach new milestones, SPY curiously still has net outflows for the year as a whole, totaling $6.7 billion. Intense competition from lower-cost rivals such as the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) have taken a toll on the behemoth.

Net ETF inflows for all ETFs in 2017 now stands at $369 billion, a new annual record.

Tax Reform Hopes Fuel Stocks

Speaking of records, the stock market continued to make new ones on a near-daily basis this week. The S&P 500 leapt as high as 2,574, equaling a return of nearly 17% for the year.

Hopes that a sweeping tax reform bill could be passed in the near future grew after the Republican-led Congress successfully passed a $4 trillion budget blueprint.

"This action keeps us on track to enacting historic tax reform that will mean more jobs, fairer taxes and bigger paychecks for American families," House speaker Paul Ryan said of the bill.

Analysts estimate that tax cuts for corporations could mean a boost in profits of 7-12% next year, which is a big reason stocks have been climbing steadily higher recently.

Meanwhile, in fixed-income markets, the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield jumped from 2.28% to 2.38% week-over-week. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hike interest rates at its December meeting.

In other Fed news, sources indicated that President Trump was leaning toward nominating Fed Governor Jerome Powell as the next chair of the central bank to replace Janet Yellen in February. If he gets the nod, Powell may continue Yellen's policies of gradual rate hikes, while avoiding upsetting markets.

SPY At The Top

Taking a look at flows for individual products, SPY easily took the top spot. on this week's list, with inflows of $4.1 billion. A distant Nos. 2 and 3 on the weekly inflows list were the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG) and the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG), with creations of around $600 million each.

On the outflows side, the iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEI), the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology ETF (IBB) and the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP) were a few notable names to fall out of favor during the week.

For a full list of this week's top inflows and outflows, see the tables below:

Top 10 Creations (All ETFs)

Ticker	Name	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($, mm)	AUM % Change
SPY	SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	4,150.64	250,605.70	1.68%
AGG	iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF	613.69	51,060.61	1.22%
IEMG	iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	572.12	40,426.88	1.44%
LQD	iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF	460.72	38,811.06	1.20%
IEFA	iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF	453.87	38,956.68	1.18%
EEM	iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF	418.35	37,876.24	1.12%
XLF	Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund	371.51	28,333.35	1.33%
XLI	Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund	357.07	13,190.03	2.78%
VOO	Vanguard S&P 500 ETF	341.28	76,064.87	0.45%
IVV	iShares Core S&P 500 ETF	333.70	130,783.96	0.26%

Top 10 Redemptions (All ETFs)

Ticker	Name	Net Flows ($,mm)	AUM ($, mm)	AUM % Change
QQQ	PowerShares QQQ Trust	-334.28	53,432.99	-0.62%
IEI	iShares 3-7 Year Treasury Bond ETF	-308.38	7,806.16	-3.80%
IBB	iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology ETF	-269.85	10,298.68	-2.55%
HYG	iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF	-246.68	20,004.97	-1.22%
TLT	iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF	-188.77	8,430.98	-2.19%
TIP	iShares TIPS Bond ETF	-136.25	23,679.61	-0.57%
VXF	Vanguard Extended Market ETF	-108.14	5,241.58	-2.02%
XOP	SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF	-89.36	2,100.36	-4.08%
IEF	iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF	-85.32	7,540.64	-1.12%
SLV	iShares Silver Trust	-76.10	5,513.79	-1.36%

ETF Weekly Flows By Asset Class

	Net Flows ($, mm)	AUM ($, mm)	% of AUM
U.S. Equity	9,525.00	1,794,381.50	0.53%
International Equity	3,454.96	761,201.80	0.45%
U.S. Fixed Income	1,886.09	523,199.42	0.36%
International Fixed Income	242.04	56,727.92	0.43%
Commodities	-146.35	66,015.26	-0.22%
Currency	-15.29	1,324.59	-1.15%
Leveraged	252.11	30,500.73	0.83%
Inverse	-65.32	17,094.22	-0.38%
Asset Allocation	32.75	8,584.35	0.38%
Alternatives	78.21	4,088.80	1.91%
Total:	15,244.20	3,263,118.59	0.47%

Top 10 Volume Surprises, Funds >$50 mm AUM

Ticker	Name	Average Volume (30 Day)	1 Week Average Volume	% of Average
IDLB	PowerShares FTSE International Low Beta Equal Weight Portfolio	27,164	102,110	375.91%
SMLF	iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor USA Small-Cap ETF	11,303	46,368	410.22%
SPLG	SPDR Portfolio Large Cap ETF	3,718	20,340	547.11%
SPTM	SPDR Portfolio Total Stock Market ETF	5,503	36,182	657.45%
PSCD	PowerShares S&P SmallCap Consumer Discretionary Portfolio	4,830	13,453	278.55%
CLTL	PowerShares Treasury Collateral Portfolio	320	2,028	634.60%
SPYV	SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Value ETF	5,589	27,935	499.82%
SPYG	SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 Growth ETF	13,860	67,474	486.82%
RJI	Elements Rogers International Commodity Index-Total Return ETN	263,627	770,174	292.14%
RING	iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners ETF	331,311	801,972	242.06%

Disclaimer: All data as of 6 a.m. Eastern time the date the article is published. Data is believed to be accurate; however, transient market data is often subject to subsequent revision and correction by the exchanges.

Sumit Roy

| Contact: [email protected]

Sumit Roy is the senior ETF analyst for etf.com, where he has worked for 13 years. He creates a variety of content for the platform, including news articles, analysis pieces, videos and podcasts.

Before joining etf.com, Sumit was the managing editor and commodities analyst for Hard Assets Investor. In those roles, he was responsible for most of the operations of HAI, a website dedicated to education about commodities investing.

Though he still closely follows the commodities beat, Sumit covers a much broader assortment of topics for etf.com, with a particular focus on stock and bond exchange-traded funds.

He is the host of etf.com’s Talk ETFs, a popular video series that features weekly interviews with thought leaders in the ETF industry. Sumit is also co-host of Exchange Traded Fridays, etf.com’s weekly podcast series.

He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he enjoys climbing the city’s steep hills, playing chess and snowboarding in Lake Tahoe.

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'SPY' Eclipses $250B

'SPY' Eclipses $250B

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